Family: Wife, Isabella, 68; three adult children and two adult step-children, all living independently.

Home: The Busmans, who have been married 13 years, are buying a home in Ravenna/Moorland Township. Their monthly mortgage payment is $737.

Most recent job: Whitey Busman was laid off in 2006 from a construction job he'd had for 20 years, losing not only his weekly paycheck but also health insurance and benefits. Although he's picked up temporary work, he hasn't had a job for the past six months. "I could work another 10 years," he says.

Last week's take-home pay: The Busmans receive $2,050 monthly in Social Security. Whitey Busman qualified for emergency unemployment at $362 a week. "It helps," he says, but it will run out in September.

How he got there: Whitey's worked in construction for 55 years, so he's always known about budgeting. "What you make in summer, you put away for the winter when you're not working," he says.

In the early 1980s, percent, Whitey packed his bags and moved to Texas to work in the oilfields. He's always lived in the country. "Don't like cities," he says.

When he and Isabella married, they moved to Ravenna to be close to her job at the Ravenna Bowl where she was a cook. No longer able to work, she is on dialysis three times a week and in a wheelchair, after suffering a series of broken bones. Whitey is her full-time caretaker.

Toughest time: The last two years. The Busmans have faced one challenge after another, some of them unique to country dwellers. They paid $900 to fix their well which "went bad" -- but the drain field was plugged which wrecked their toilets and some plumbing.

They recently received financial help from the U.S.D.A. Rural Development for a new well. Last winter, they paid $1,700 for propane gas, and their light bills have doubled.

"We're in a tough way. We make too much money (from Social Security) to get too much help, but that's how much our bills are."

Speaking: "I've always worked twe jobs. I've been in construction for 55 years. I had a farm and there were times I had a milk route, too. I never thought I'd be in this position. Never thought I'd have to go for help, but I've been to the (Second Harvest Gleaners) food trucks, and all that. Can't believe it. I've always paid my own way."